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Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:25:45 GMT -5
Q - Can you put in words how long it takes to put up & take down a stage? Is the pay good, perks? What inspires these ARMY ANTS? Seems like a never ending chore...packin' and stackin' from town to town.
Joe When we arrived at the venue, the stage was already built. Stage call was 12:30 and sound and lights would unload first, band equipment was last out of the truck. The sound and lights would take about an hour and 1/2 before the stage was clear and we could start setting the amp line.
Setting the amp line is really an understatement. Three guitars, Bass, drums and piano was a lot of equipment. We also had a power distribution system that tied into the house mains, a drum riser and an F'n grand piano. We also carried a carpet we rolled out to cover the stage. Setting the stage included stringing the mini-snakes and running the electric power. All electric connections were carefully taped and all cable runs were tapped down too. The best way to avoid accidents was to prevent them. There were no loose cables or wires that could be tripped over and jerked out. Back stage was as tight and as neat as the front. Behind the amp line, we lined up all the work cases and this area between the amps and the work boxes was a no-man's land for everybody except the crew. Failure was not an option.
After the line was set, there was a lot of daily maintenance, housekeeping and sometimes special projects. Daily maintenance included changing guitar strings, tuning the piano, polishing the drums and stuff like that. Housekeeping included all the taping I mentioned above and insuring that there was a clear pathway to the stage for the band, nothing to trip or stumble over no matter what their intoxication level. Our goal was to make sure that nothing we could control could fail, of course we had no control over the band.
I ran a tight stage. If the stage wasn't under control, it would take control.
Around 4:30, the band would arrive for their sound check. They would play some of the current set but mostly would work on new material, sometimes riffing on some song they'd been listening to on the bus.
After the sound check, we'd pull the drum riser back so the front was even with the amp line and move the piano and other keyboards off to the side. I had a couple of heavy duty quad boxes I'd put in front of the amps for power for the openers and they had a nice clean stage with plenty of room. I didn't want them to have any excuse for messing with our stuff. We gave the openers what ever they needed sound and lights except for the mirror ball. Were they going to make it too hot for Skynyrd??? I don't think so and if they did, more power to them. We did a lot of shows with Charlie Daniels and Billy would let Taz use his piano. I wanted the whole show to be good.
After this, we'd have dinner. Sometimes it was pretty good, sometimes especially in the earlier days it was just fast food crap. Some guys would go to the hotel but most would hang around.
When the openers finished their set, our crew would be right there to help shuffle their gear off stage and get ready for our show. We were really efficient and the set change was always 20 minutes or less. I've seen some shows where the set change lasted an hour or more, if that ever happened with Skynyrd, it wasn't because of the crew.
After the show, we'd pack up and load the truck.
Now this was the normal routine and there was a lot of cushion. We wanted this cushion because you could never tell what problems you might find. There was one time though that I'm sure we broke some records. Evansville Indiana, Roberts Stadium (basketball stadium), they were have graduation exercises and they weren't finished until 30 minutes before the doors were to open for the show. For the load in there was a wide truck ramp that went down to floor level so we had the trucks unloaded and all the equipment at the door ready to roll in. As soon as they finished their graduation exercises we were rolling everything in. The PA was stacked up before the crowd had even cleared the hall. When the doors opened 30 minutes later, we were ready for the openers to set their line.
We were the best!!!
The pay? It took ten years and two degrees before I was making as much.
The Perks? How about having the best seats in the house for the greatest Rock n' Roll band in the world, every night?!?!? Meeting some truly famous and talented people. Traveling all over the country seeing more places and things than you'd ever see in a normal lifetime. Having the chance to snag some sweet young girl that was trying for a rock star but would settle for a roadie. Did you ever have a job where you could get stoned and no one cared or gave you any crap?
Did you ever hear about the guy whose job was shoveling elephant shit in the circus, Someone asked him why he didn't get a regular job. His answer... What and leave Show Business???
We were a team and a winning team. A truly elusive camaraderie that if you've never had you've missed something.
Boring??? Not Fun??? You know, it's still a job, you take the bad with the good, you do what you've got to do. Do you think it's still fun to play Freebird every night after 35 years?
What ever you do, you can be fun and pleasant or you can be miserable, it's up to you and you make the difference.
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Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:28:19 GMT -5
Joe: I said that there was more to come.
The best Rock and Roll Band in the world and the Best Road Crew in the World. I’d like to introduce you to that road crew.
Kevin Elson : Kevin was the best live sound engineer on the road. When I started with Skynyrd, he and I did everything. In addition to the band’s equipment, we were still playing clubs so we carried our own PA. This also helped us get a couple of shows where we did the sound for the headliner with our system. We traveled around the South in an old Cadillac Sedan and an old Ford truck with a 12-foot box. In the Caddy, 3 people in the front, 3 people in the back, and then 3 people in the truck. Both had a couple hundred thousand miles on them so we traveled together in case one of them broke down. Kevin did a lot of the driving, some of the band members were NOT allowed behind the wheel.
Kevin was a fussy SOB too, but the band needed someone to fuss at them, especially about being too loud. Kevin is the one that told them the Street Survivors original mix sucked so bad, and that took brass ball when you know about how Ronnie worshiped Tom Dowd. After the plane crash, Kevin went on to work with Journey both in the studio and on the road. He also worked with Michael Jackson some.
Kevin started out playing B-3 and some guitar in a band with Donnie Van Zant, Jeff Carlissi, and a couple others in Sweet Rooster. The other band evolved into .38 Special.
Dean Kilpatrick : Dean was a classic, a one of a kind. He had no known musical talent other than recognizing the magic in Skynyrd. He became the ultimate band support guy and ended up taking of the band’s personal needs that they were otherwise incapable of taking care of for themselves. Valet, House Mother, Nanny??? All said with respect because without Dean there would have been chaos. These guys were coddled rock stars before they were stars. Dean wasn’t an enabler, he was just recognizing the truth and became the solution. They actually had to let Dean go when they hired me because they couldn’t afford 3 roadies and with the traveling situation, there wasn’t room for a tenth person. He came back on board for the WHO tour though and was there through the end.
Craig Reed : Craig was really in the right place at the right time. He met the band in Cleveland when we had a make up show after the WHO tour. I think it’s safe to say that that show at the Smiling Dog Saloon changed his life. Ed helped him get hired and since he didn’t know anything about musical instruments I made him drum roadie. I taught him what I knew but I was never really into drums, he dove in and got really good at it. He polished the cymbals and repaired the cymbal stands, he cleaned the drum shells and changed drum heads. He even built an aluminum drum riser that he ended up using for years. When they first wanted a drum riser I built one out of plywood and 2x4’s that weighed a ton, it was so heavy and clumsy it didn’t last very long. One time he was worried about the bass drum head but Bob wouldn’t let him change it. He had to change it mid show when Bob finally kicked through it. Baaaad form, but it wasn’t Craig’s fault. When Artie came on board he had a much larger drum kit so Craig had his hands full. Talk about loyalty, Craig stuck with the band and it’s various reincarnations until they kicked him out because he was sick with Hep C, sometimes loyalty only goes one way. Craig is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
Chuck Flowers : It seems like Chuck is the forgotten roadie because he didn’t have the visibility of Dean and he wasn’t in the plane crash even though it killed him too. Chuck was a friend of the band from the very early days and he started on the road the summer of ’74. His first show was a little rough because after the show he and another guy they hired ran of to chase the girls that were hanging around. I had to rope them back in and Chuck got the message, the other guy didn’t and didn’t last very long. Chuck started out helping me with the amp line and I started teaching him about guitars. He ended up focusing on Allen’s side of the stage and taking care of the guitars. Chuck was funny as hell, if he was on a roll he could have you rolling on the floor laughing you ass off, not the silly internet acronym but actually rolling on the floor laughing. Chuck had his ups and downs. When I was there I was able to intervene and talk to Ronnie and settle things back down. It seems he got upset about something a week or so before the plane crash and quit and went home. He was going to get back with the band but then there was the plane crash. It apparently tore him apart and three days after the crash, he had a buckshot breakfast. Even though he wasn’t on the plane, the crash killed him too.
Me : Allen and Bob were in my Jr HS gym class, Gary was a year ahead, Donnie was in my class too. I played guitar in a garage band. I knew Ricky and Billy Powell, Jeff Carlissi, Don Barnes and a bunch of other music folks. too. I was part of the music community. I wasn’t a great guitar player but my equipment always worked because I was never afraid to take things apart and figure things out. I made my own guitar cords and ended up making a bunch for my friends. The only cords you could get at the music stores were crap. I built speaker cabinets that looked better the Fenders at the stores. I was a better gear head than musician. I helped Skynyrd out on their local shows, loaning amps and speakers and helping set up and load out. One day I told Ronnie that if they needed someone to go on the road to give me a call, two weeks later he called!
We were the best!!!
Craig, Chuck and I became the stage team and Kevin was the sound guy. While Skynyrd was going to the top anyway, we set the stage so they could. This was not some sedate string quartet, this was a very high energy rock and roll show where we had to stay on top of everything. Just about anything that could go wrong did go wrong at one time or another, usually during Freebird. We had to be ready to jump to fix it if anything went wrong but more importantly we tried to learn to keep it from happening again.
We were the best and we weren’t arrogant about it, we knew it. There was a team camaraderie that I have never found since. We were as good backstage as Skynyrd was frontstage.
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Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:29:44 GMT -5
Q - Joe, I have always been curious as to what happened to Chuck Flowers.
Joe Another tragedy. The story I heard was Chuck had some kind of disagreement with Ronnie and quit for a few days. He was getting back with them and was to meet them at their next show. He was so despondent about the crash, he thought he should have been on the plane, maybe he thought he could have saved Ronnie. Three days after the crash, he had buckshot for breakfast.
Chuck was a great guy and I can't say enough good things about him. One more Skynyrd tragedy.
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Post by ekforum on Nov 30, 2009 18:31:41 GMT -5
Q - Joe, just wondering if you knew what all the other members of the road crew did after the plane crash and what are they up to now?
Joe Craig is in Ohio selling his memorabilia after working for various reincarnations of Skynyrd and a couple of other bands.
Kevin lives Seattle I think. He successfully moved into record production and had some big success with Journey. He worked with Michael Jackson too. I think he gets royalties, the SOB. wink
Chuck Flowers had a buckshot breakfast a few days after the plane crash and has been feeding worms ever since. (Chuck would laugh at this)
Raymond was murdered by a crazy f****** girlfriend. He seemed to bring that out in women or maybe it was just the type of women he liked. Dale was living with him before she sniffed out the big money. Raymond had worked for 38 and started working for Skynyrd sometime after I was thrown off the plane.
John Butler is around. Ed mentioned to me that he had seen him awhile ago but I don't recall that he gave an update on his current activities.
Dean was killed in the plane crash.
I'm an accountant/consultant living in Jacksonville these days.
That's it for the people directly involved with the band. I couldn't keep track of the various road managers, bus or truck drivers but they don't really count. As far as the folks on the sound and light crews there were some we had long relationships with but I can't really give an update on them.
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